Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s campaign reported Monday taking in nearly $530,000 in new contributions, according to campaign records. Add another $100k since April 1 and the fund-raising surge puts Lisa Madigan in striking distance of $5 million in total cash-on-hand when the reporting period ends. The total outpaces two other Democratic gubernatorial potential candidates: Gov. Pat Quinn and William Daley, however Quinn held his own in larger donations over the last few weeks. […]

Insiders have said the attorney general was working to close out the second period in commanding fashion, hoping to reach $5 million. The filing deadline for the second period is July 15th.

The newest campaign disclosures include a $52,600 boost from DRIVE Teamsters Political Action Committee, another $10,600 from SEIU and tens of thousands more from teachers unions and other employee unions.

Lisa Madigan would have to do little more than sign her name to be reelected once again as Illinois Attorney General. So if not for a gubernatorial campaign, where will the $5 million go?

She was outraised this past quarter by Gov. Quinn, Bill Daley and Bruce Rauner. She raised a lot less money in the second quarter than she raised in the first quarter. The spin out of her campaign yesterday was that she reached her $5 million goal, but that wasn’t a quarter of somebody gearing up extremely hard for a major statewide race. Her first quarter was. I don’t know if this means she’s not running or just didn’t put in enough time and effort, but either way, she didn’t beat expectations.

“Right now, (Downstate Democrats) see the choices and it’s two Chicago guys,” said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, the Harrisburg Democrat who helped negotiate the legislature’s compromise bill from the gun-owner rights perspective. “I think there might be some other people who will get into this race.” […]

As for a potential Downstate Democratic contender for governor who has the credibility and gravitas to run, Phelps said he believes some possible candidates are waiting to see if Madigan enters the contest. “A lot of us (Downstate Democrats) will get together. I think there’s some people looking at horses to ride,” he said.

The last time any Illinois D paid any attention to the “geographic balance” thing it was in 2006, with Madigan supporting Paul Mangieri for Treasurer against Alexi Giannoulias.

Giannoulias certainly had his faults, but he dropped Mangieri like a bad habit in the primary. When he had trouble in his own statewide primary, it was to another Chicago resident (David Hoffman, 2010). And when he lost, it was to a north shore Republican.

So do we really, really have to keep talking about geographic balance?

===Downstate Democratic contender for governor who has the credibility and gravitas to run,===

Unless you can raise the dead, no such such person exists today. You have to use the way-back machine to find downstate Democrats with both credibility and gravitas. Dixon. Simon. Demuzio. Severns. Sadly, they aren’t making them like that anymore.

Mike Frerichs is being sort of cute. He is raising a lot money statewide on the expectation that he will run for treasurer, but so far has only been exploring. And he has a record on the big tough issues that is designed to play well statewide in a governors race. Probably he will run for treasurer but I would not be shocked to see him go for governor.

Wordslinger correct again. There have been more breathless worshipping stories (looking at you sun-times) about guys and gals named Edgar, Kennedy, Daley and Lisa, Princess of Madiganistan who haven’t ended up running for office than the people who actually did run for office. It’s sucking the wind out of coverage of candidates/campaigns/debates who are actually running, do actually put in the time to talk to voters and aren’t just some overhyped political scion waiting to get crowned the next line on their resume.

I see absolutely nothing remarkable about this woman other than the fact she’s managed to spend 15 years in springfield and not crashed the way so many down there have.

Good call, Jake! Frerichs was up in the Evergreen Park 4th of July parade, with very vague “Meet Mike Frerichs” campaign signs being carried. He would be a very sharp contrast to the other 2 candidates (young, charismatic, articulate). Slap a contrasting upstate lt. gov. on the ticket and away we go!

“Probably he (Frerichs) will run for treasurer but I would not be shocked to see him go for governor.”

That’s silly. He’s only beginning to build a state-wide network.

Pat Quinn certainly hopes a downstater gets in the race. The only downstate votes Daley will get will be anit-Quinn votes and obviously not pro-Daley, so it makes downstate even less relevant to the Governor’s re-nomination.

Clayborne gave the idea some consideration in 2010 but decided against before going too far down the road. He’d have some issues to work through but without a downstater or an AA candidate in the race it would be a rather unique profile and would be a new twist on an old formula. I seriously doubt he would even think about getting in these days but it would be an interesting development.

Rich, I totally agree with you. I had been hearing about a “huge” quarter for Lisa. Pretty underwhelming. And her indecision is only helping Pat Quinn raise money. There a number of legislators who gave to Quinn who wouldn’t have if Lisa is in the race.

One of those legislators was Clayborne. Pretty unlikely he’d run against Quinn. He’s actually a potential running mate.

My friend, we are like Michigan already, no need to wait a few years. And I am not talking about that old saw “Chicago will be the next Detroit”, because Chicago will never be like Detroit for 1000 reasons.

But, Illinois is broke and broken, just like the State of Michigan. And, in my opinion, we might want to take a page or two from Wisconsin. They appear to be in the black or close to it.

I would like to see Alan Dixon make a cameo appearance, like a groundhog, see if he sees his shadow, then maybe make a race of it. Would be an interesting dynamic.

As for Lisa Madigan, I am sure the 5 million WAS a target, but that doesn’t mean it will quell expectations, even ones Lisa’s Crew helped to elevate. I have been between 60-80 percent “No” for a while, and see no reason to get off that.

to: Rahms Middle Finger
–“Probably he (Frerichs) will run for treasurer but I would not be shocked to see him go for governor.”

That’s silly. He’s only beginning to build a state-wide network.–

Let’s think back to summer of 2003 A young state senator, just under 40, bright but unknown thinks he would like to run for U.S. Senator in 2004. The idea is obviously preposterous. The state party is lining up for Dan Hynes, a popular statewide office holder. The young state senator’s name is Barack Obama. An even younger local elected official in central Illinois, is one of the first to come forward to work for Obama in the primary. The younger man is Mike Frerichs. See a pattern?